Argentina state job cuts push LGBTQ+ people 'back into sex work'

• Government slashes key institutions protecting diversity
• Activists say officials promote a hostile narrative
• Lay-offs impact LGBTQ+ public workers

MEXICO CITY/BOGOTA - After coming out as non-binary, Argentine artist Federico Adorado searched fruitlessly for two years to secure a formal job that guaranteed a salary and access to healthcare.

But thanks to a trailblazing 2021 quota law that reserved 1% of public sector jobs for transgender, transsexual and non-binary people, the artist found an administrative job at the national film institute.

"Thanks to the quota law ... we had the right to a job, to public healthcare, to pay for a place to live, to have a bank account. All things that we didn't have access to before," said Adorado, 30, who identifies with the pronouns they/them.

"Now it's all gone," they told Context.

Since coming into power in December, libertarian President Javier Milei has implemented austerity measures to address Argentina's worst economic crisis in decades and curb inflation currently at more than 260%.

As a result, more than 20,400 public sector employees were laid off in the first six months of 2024. Trans workers group TransSindical Zaguán Observatory calculated that around 100 of the 955 people hired under the quota law were among those fired.

The dismissals, Adorado said, had "meant defeat, horror, sadness."

In 2010, Argentina was the first Latin American country to legalise same sex marriage and led regional adoption of laws on gender identity and non-discrimination.

Now activists point to a roll-back in these protections and an increasingly hostile narrative towards the LGBTQ+ community.

"We are seeing a growth in hate speech and violence against diversity, while the institutions responsible for the public policy for diversity are being closed," said María Rachid, president of the Argentinian Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans.

The federation and trade unions are supporting lawsuits by people who lost their jobs after being hired under the quota law.

After the unexpected lay-off, Adorado receives financial help from their family, but warned that, without a job, most trans workers would be forced to "sell their bodies".

"Some friends have been able to turn to their families, to move back to their provinces. But in most cases, it has led to sex work," said Rachid.

Lost protection

Milei's government shut down the state-run Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism in August, which Rachid said had been pivotal for reporting discrimination cases against LGBTQ+ people.

Milei's government also shut down the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity, a move activists said harmed women.

Presidential spokesperson Manuel Adorni announced the institute and ministry would be closed in February saying they "do not add absolutely anything to a totally impoverished country".

"Now the only possibility to report discrimination is through a very expensive lawsuit. Without the institute, there is nowhere else to go," said Rachid.

Esteban Paulón, the first gay activist elected to Congress in Argentina, said the government was linking policies to protect diversity to the country's financial woes.

The Milei government has also prohibited the use of inclusive language in all official documents - Adorni said it had been used for political objectives.

"This increasing hostility against the LGBT populations is leading to cases of discrimination and violence," Paulón told Context.

Three lesbian women died and one was gravely injured when a petrol bomb was thrown into the room they were sharing in the capital Buenos Aires in May. A male suspect was arrested.

Citing the case, Humans Right Watch called on the government to cease "rhetoric that stigmatises queer women and may contribute to a climate in which they are seen as deserving of violence."

Paulón said he had faced increasing harassment, hate speech and political violence online due to his sexual preference since Milei came to power.

"There is a permanent online harassment in which my sexual orientation is linked to paedophilia and sexual abuse, an old stigma that is being used to persecute those who lead different lifestyles," said Paulón.

For LGBTQ+ people, the government's narrative has led to tension and harassment that affects their daily lives.

"We have to be more careful and alert in the street and on public transportation and when ... holding hands with your partner if you are gay or lesbian in public," said Sofía Quiroga, programme officer in Argentina for rights group Equality Now.

(Reporting by Diana Baptista and Anastasia Moloney; Editing by Jon Hemming.)